“Make Hyeonjong a fool” Controversy erupted in ‘Goryeo Khitan War’, will even KBS historical dramas be shaken? [TEN Focus]

[Ten Asia = Reporter Ha-neul Lee]

The popular KBS 2TV epic drama ‘Goryeo Khitan War Controversy arose that 39; (directed by Jeon Woo-seong, Kim Han-sol) is different from the original work and historical facts.

The Emperor Hyeonjong of Goryeo, who united Goryeo with tolerant leadership and led the war against the Khitans to victory. The ‘Khitan War of Goryeo’, which tells the story of Kang Gam-chan, his political mentor and commander-in-chief of the Goryeo army, has previously received enthusiastic support, but voices of dissatisfaction have recently emerged from viewers. Since it is not a fictional historical drama in the first place, but a historical drama that requires as much research on historical facts as possible, this controversy is expected to have a negative impact on the ‘Goryeo Khitan War’

On the 15th, novelist Gil Seung-soo, the original author of the drama and the author of the historical novel ‘Goryeo Khitan War’ posted on his blog ‘the original content of episode 16 after Yang Gyu’s battle’ An article was published under the title 39; The episode he is pointing out is the ‘Goryeo Khitan War’ aired on the 13th and 14th. These are episodes 17 and 18. In the article, he wrote, “The KBS original contract is not only for the published ‘Goryeo Khitan War: Heroes of Goryeo,’ but also for the book he is currently writing, ‘Goryo Khitan War: Battle of Europe and China’”He said, “I even did it.” He then added, “‘The Goryeo Khitan War: The Great Battle of Europe’ was provided to KBS with about 400 pages, and contains the post-war recovery after Yang Gyu’s death.”

Gil Writer Seungsu mentioned the original story and said, “Ha Gongjin is dragged north by the Khitan army, and after seeing the health of Seogyeong and the destruction of Yang Gyu, he pledges to return to Goryeo without fail,”and “Up until this time, Hyeonjong had been concerned about his situation.”I was sad, but I woke up after hearing Yang-gyu’s story. He pledges that from now on, he will not lament, but will serve the country and its people. He added, “The same goes for the subjects who served King Hyeonjong.”

Also, “In August 1011, the Eastern Jurchen tribe raided Gyeongju using ships. Accordingly, King Hyeonjong dispatched Gang Gam-chan to Gyeongju, and Gang Gam-chan became associated with Dongbuk-myeon and began his military career. Chae Chung-sun, Kim Eun-bu and others go to the Khitan as envoys and engage in diplomatic warfare. King Hyeonjong’s reorganization of the local system also appears, but it is not depicted as a severe conflict like in the drama. And of course, King Hyeonjong’s fall from a horse depicted in episode 18 is not in the original content, he emphasized. Where are the points where the original content and historical facts mentioned by writer Seung-su Gil are different?

1) Why the original content and historical facts are different from the drama / Change of script writer Issue

One netizen asked the fundamental question, “If there is an original work, isn’t it made by a production team made up of several people including the original author (such as the original author) and related parties (such as a broadcasting company or production company) along with the cast?”Writer Gil Seung-soo said, “After the script writer was replaced, I didn’t receive any advice except for the battle scenes, so I don’t know the exact internal situation. He said, “I think the reason is that the script is being released in a hurry and the time for revision work is very short.”

He continued, “I should have written the script after being fully familiar with the historical facts and receiving sufficient advice, but I don’t think it’s done enough. After the script writer was replaced, I did not receive any advice except for the battle scenes, so I do not know the exact internal situation. It seems that the script writer is deliberately trying to avoid the original work and write his own work. In trying to avoid the original work, I think I am also avoiding the history within it. “It’s hard to believe that someone like this is writing a historical drama for the public broadcaster KBS,” he added.

2) Hyeonjong’s accident from falling from a horse in episode 18

The ‘Goryeo Khitan War’ aired on the 14th. In episode 18, the scene of Hyeonjong’s (Kim Dong-jun) falling horse accident was depicted. Previously, Kang Gam-chan filed an impeachment appeal against Kim Eun-bu, and Hyeonjong was angry at the fact that he did not accept his opinion. Afterwards, Hyeonjong said to Gang Gam-chan, “Leave Gaegyeong immediately.” “Don’t ever appear in front of me again,” he said angrily. While leaving Kang Gam-chan’s house and riding a horse, King Hyeonjong fell from his horse and was seen bleeding. Commenting on this scene, one netizen said, “I was so shocked to see the accident from a horse that it actually happened.”He said, “I looked for it,”and writer Gil Seung-soo emphasized that this was different from the truth, saying, “In the previous work, King Taejong Lee Bang-won, I had a hard time because of my words, but I fell from a horse again.”3) After the death of General Yang Gyu, the conflict between Gang Gam-chan and King Hyeonjong deepened

After the death of General Yang Gyu, the conflict between General Kang Gam-chan (Choi Soo-jong) and King Hyeonjong deepened. In the play, Kim Eun-bu (Cho Seung-yeon) committed a serious crime of stealing the children of warlords while he was serving as a Gongju thief, and Kang Gam-chan demanded his dismissal. However, Hyeonjong could not hide his disappointment in Gang Gam-chan who did not follow his words, and in a situation where his opinion was not accepted, Gang Gam-chan continued to insist. Accordingly, Hyeonjong ordered Kang Gam-chan to be dismissed from his position in front of all his subjects, showing that the conflict continued.

Regarding this issue, one netizen said, “The trouble between Kang Gam-chan and Hyeonjong will last forever. When asked, “Does it seem like it is?” writer Gil Seung-soo said, “It’s not predictable at all.” Until episode 16, it moved within the framework of history and the original work. He expressed his regret by saying, “They are making a fool out of the person (Hyeonjong) who can be considered the most famous soldier in Korean history.” Regarding this part, viewers’ opinions are divided between those who say it is not historically researched and those who say it is interesting.

◆ The significance of the controversy over the ‘Goryeo Khitan War’ which overturned the crisis of KBS that had lasted for the past few years

In recent years, KBS has not been able to release any significant dramas or entertainment, but it seems to be regaining its former reputation with ‘Goryeo Khitan War’, a special historical drama for the 50th anniversary of public broadcasting. did. 2004 ‘Immortal Yi Sun-sin’, 2007 ‘Dae Jo-yeong’, 2014 ‘Jong Do-jeon’ KBS has once again revived its long-standing history of producing so-called ‘orthodox historical dramas’ that consistently conduct historical research based on historical sources. However, due to the controversy over the ‘Goryeo Khitan War’, attention is being paid to how KBS will overcome the crisis.

In fact, it was repeatedly pointed out that the KBS drama was a ‘crisis’ The Monday-Tuesday dramas and Wednesday-Thursday dramas that continued to fill the small screen continued to produce poor results, and in 2023 alone, KBS2’s Monday-Tuesday dramas ‘Wedding Battle’, ‘Pure Boxer’, ‘Pure Boxer’, ‘ #39;My heart is racing’ Works such as these were low in topicality and evaluation. The same goes for Wednesday-Thursday dramas. Due to the poor viewership rating of less than 1%, the 2022 ‘True Sword Battle’ Afterwards, the Wednesday-Thursday drama was temporarily discontinued.

The same goes for entertainment. Both ‘Problem Son of the Rooftop’, which has been airing since 2018, and ‘Hong Kim Dong-jeon’, airing since 2022, have all been decided to be abolished. The two programs ended on January 17th and 18th, respectively. Although they all had low viewer ratings, they had a fan base. Especially after the news of the cancellation of ‘Hong Kim Dong-jeon’, petitions opposing the abolition were posted on the KBS viewer petition.

Regarding the abolition of ‘Hong Kim Dong-jeon’, KBS said, “It was the result of a comprehensive judgment of various factors, including not just viewership ratings, but also the corporation’s financial situation, which had become difficult due to separate collection of license fees.”It is time to pay attention to KBS’ actions surrounding the controversy over the ‘Goryeo Khitan War’

Ten Asia Reporter Ha-neul Lee greenworld@tenasia.co.kr